Hamilton's in!

Well, I did the hard thing today and drove Hamilton the 40 minutes to Angell Memorial in Boston, then left him there to be tested and hopefully pass through to be allowed to have the radioactive iodine treatment.

While we were in the car, the little guy sat quietly and trustingly in his carrier, and my heart broke because I felt like I was betraying him. I had to keep reminding myself that this was for his own good, and that he'd be a healthier and happier cat once he had the treatment.

The vet at Angell was wonderful. She checked him out thoroughly, talked to him, rubbed and scratched him, and made me feel better about our decision. She told me that hyperthyroid disorder makes cats susceptible to all kinds of other problems, including the eye infection she could see he was developing, and that we wouldn't have been able to leave him for even a day without messing up his medication schedule and his levels, for the rest of his life. She assured me that the treatment has a very high rate of success and should guarantee him a much higher quality of life.

I'll hear from her tomorrow, when she'll tell me the results of his preliminary x-rays and let me know if Hamilton will be having the shot on Wednesday. She didn't foresee any problems.

The hardest part was watching her walk away with him in her arms, bundled in the blanket I left with him along with some toys. It could be almost three weeks before we see our little guy again.

But I know we're doing the right thing!

Tomorrow's the big day!

Hamilton goes to Angell Memorial tomorrow. If I can successfully get him into his carrier, which will be quite a battle, I'll be taking him there for a noon appointment. They'll keep him for two days to do tests on his heart and lungs and take blood. If all is well, he'll have the radioactive iodine shot and have to stay there for at least two weeks. If we brought him home sooner we'd have to flush all of his litter and keep him isolated from places like the kitchen and bedroom, which would be hard with four other cats in the house! He also isn't particularly great about using the litter box sometimes.

I know my heart will break leaving him there. The poor little guy will think I'm giving him away. Ironically, Angell Memorial is where he was adopted 12 years ago. Wish me luck!

Our new issue is out!

The Sept. issue of Our Place to Paws' free e-newsletter came out this week, announcing our Sept. Photo winner of the month! To see the winning photo, which everyone loves, click here.

In the meantime, it looks like one of our columnists, Daisy, is resting up for the next issue.

Grapes and raisins can be deadly to dogs

A "Paws" reader just passed along some information about grapes and raisins being potentially deadly to dogs, a fact many dog lovers don't know. To read more about it, visit:

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp

I've been on a semi-vacation in upstate New York for the past week, staying in the converted farmhouse where I grew up and where my parents still live. The house is set on 40 acres, most of which is split up into three fields that used to be planted with corn or harvested for hay. Beyond the fields are woods that are still full of wildlife.

These days, you can see a variety of animals right in the backyard, and the sightings have been the highlight of my week. Three young foxes are playing in the picture above, which was taken just beyond the yard last month. I saw one of them, now mature, trot along the side of the house and through the backyard two days ago, very early in the morning.

I've also seen a friendly groundhog who has made a home under the hot tub deck in the backyard, a chipmunk who lives beneath the old dog house enjoying some lunch he found under some fallen leaves, and a large doe who walked right through the yard on the way to a safe spot where she could wait out an approaching thunderstorm. Several flocks of wild turkeys have crossed the roads when I've been driving in the area.

The most dramatic sighting is one I missed, however. My mom saw a bobcat walk right through the backyard! Bobcats are sighted here only every couple of years and I missed it again! What gorgeous creatures they are, and I would love to see one.

Soon I'll be back in the Boston area for the beginning of a new work year, and we'll be preparing to take Hamilton in for his treatment on September 10. But for now, I'm glad I've had this chance to enjoy some time off with a few wild creatures.

Hamilton jumps!

We had quite an event in our kitchen this morning. Hamilton, who is still on schedule for his radioactive iodine shot on September 10, surprised us with an unprecedented event.

Hamilton, you see, is not much of a jumper. He never has been, and he's 12 years old. We started feeding him on top of the refrigerator about a year ago to keep his food away from Tribbs, one of our other cats. The problem was we had to pick Hamilton up and put him up there every time he wanted to nibble at his food. He was able to jump down, but not up.

It has become a household routine to have him get up onto the kitchen counter by a small jump first onto the garbage bin, and then sit there and RREEEOOOWWWW! loudly until we pick him up and put him on the refrigerator.

Recently, one of the small Scottish Folds we've been taking care of managed to jump all the way on to the top of the refrigerator from a small shelf nearby in order to raid Hamilton's food. I guess Hamilton saw her do it, because this morning he did it himself! I never thought Hamilton could jump so high!

What a cat will do to protect his food!

Countdown to Hamilton's Treatment

As September 10 grows closer, I get so worried that Hamilton will never forgive me for driving him into Boston and dropping him off at the hospital for as long as 20 days! But it will all be worth it if that radioactive iodine shot cures him of his hyperthyroid disorder. Maybe THIS picture shows just what he thinks of the idea!

Poor judgment from AOL

I was reading a news article on AOL Sports about Michael Vick pleading guilty to dog fighting charges just now, and was pleased to hear that he'd have to pay for his cruelty to animals. Then I glanced to the right of the article, and saw that AOL was featuring a picture of a bull being speared in a bull-fight as a "Tops Sports Photo."

So much for sensitivity to cruelty to animals!

Our Place to Paws Seeks Advertisers, Sponsors for "10% for Animals" Program

Our Place to Paws, a new Web site by and for animal lovers, will donate 10% of any advertising dollars to non-profit animal welfare or rescue organization of the advertisers' choice.

Waltham, MA (PRWEB) August 20, 2007 -- Our Place to Paws, a Web site by and for animal lovers that debuted in March of this year, is seeking advertisers and sponsors for its "10% for Animals" program.

Our Place to Paws (www.ourplacetopaws.com) features informative, quirky and fun articles about pets and wildlife, from regular news stories to columns penned by "animal columnists" such as Daisy the Cat, Orson the Chow and Opus the Opossum. Also featured on the site and in the free monthly e-newsletter are simple animal art projects that kids can do at home, a monthly Reader Photo Spotlight contest with a $20 gift certificate prize and a Cats vs. Dogs essay contest for writers of all ages.

"Our Place to Paws is only five months old, and we're seeking advertisers to help keep our online community of animal lovers alive," said Faye Rapoport DesPres, editor of the Web site. "Our goal from the start has been to find ways to support non-profit animal rescue and welfare organizations, and we will donate 10% of any advertising dollars to the non-profit animal organization of the advertiser's choice."

Currently, the Our Place to Paws blog (www.ourplacetopaws.blogspot.com) is chronicling the health care journey of Hamilton, a cat who has been diagnosed with hyperthyroid condition and who will soon be treated with a radioactive iodine shot in Boston. The blog also features animal photographs, news and videos.

"I started Our Place to Paws simply because I love animals and am passionate about their welfare, and wanted to develop creative ways for people to read and write about animals online," Rapoport DesPres said. "Now I have a group of loyal readers who care just as much about animals as I do, and we want to find ways to help. Because we're so new, we are offering extremely low advertising rates on our site that won't even register on most companies' budget radars."

For more information about advertising on the Our Place to Paws Web site and in the free monthly e-newsletter, and taking part in the "10% for Animals" program, contact Faye Rapoport DesPres at 781-799-4739 or visit www.ourplacetopaws.com.

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Posing with his portrait

Hamilton is still doing well, and is on schedule for his Sept. 10 radioactive iodine shot appointment. Here he is posing with his portrait, done by Peggy Dey of Dey by Dey Studio.